oo I see, thanks for that info.I am feeding them by wetting the tip of a toothpick, then placing the wet side into the powder, then feeding it to them. I do this about 4-6 times a day. Is this a good amount? There are 6 little guys.

Well done Bmm! They look lovely! Do the marbles make a decent substrate? (I'm considering it for the Axolotl)Just wondered whether the bacteria would build up under them enough... (That and could you grow plants in it???)

this is if they are fed microworms (with a bit of flakes and yolk) and kept in a large container + regular w/c, 27C, good filtration & current:week 1: 0.6-0.9cmweek 2: 1-1.5cmweek 3: 1.5-2cmweek 4: 2-2.5 cmweek 5: 2.5-3cmweek 6: over 3cm

You would get a lot of gunk under the marbles, but not much for bacteria. It would be like all the gunk that you vac out but it would be harder to get it out from under the marbles.

I stir the gunk under the sand in my tank for ferts. but if I didn't it will raise my nitrates and such to awfully high levels of nitrates. Using marbles you wouldn't be able to keep it covered to use as a fert and would raise the toxin levels if you don't vac it out all the time.

That's what I thought. I tend not to syphon my tank, but I do stir it so my (wonderful amazing fantastic) filter sweeps it all away before I do my waterchange. (Due to syphon going missing) I have Khulis and a Dojo that get in the gravel for food, and tunnelling, and Zelda picks up chunks of rubbish and spits it near the filter!That and the surviving plants suck it up.

something very interesting happened last night!!! ok so i was feeding the babies and I saw in the main tank a small little fry. So i thought that I had just forgotten him... but then I saw more! They are all small and look like newborns... How could this be?? The black female did look fat when the first batch was born..and i thought that she was the mother, then last night after i saw the new batchshe was very thin... AHHH! confused!